The Police Department's Manual of Rules and Regulations requires that the beards be neatly trimmed. And the rule requires police to begin growing beards at the beginning of at least two consecutive days off to avoid stubble and a tough-guy look.

The Berkshire Eagle reports that Chief Michael J. Wynn said that in a 2011 review of the manual the issue did not come up. But officers immediately asked if they could grow beards.

The department employs 70 uniformed officers and detectives.

Wynn says police departments in several Massachusetts communities have approved beards in the past few years.